Rep. William Lehman (D.Fla.), who recently returned from a White House-sponsored mission to the People’s Republic of China, said that he encountered considerable hostility toward Jews and Israel on the part of Chinese leaders.
In a newsletter sent out to his constituents, Lehman reported that a Mr. Hao, President of the Chinese Institute of Foreign Affairs, condemned “Israeli aggression.” The Chinese spokesman maintained that his country would reassess its diplomatic position on Israel only after peaceful relations were established between Israel and Egypt.
At an important meeting between members of the American delegation and Chinese officials, Lehman pointed out that true normalization of relations between China and the United States must be based upon mutual respect for the special friendships which each nation holds with other countries. In light of the long-standing relationship between the United States and Israel, the Florida Congressman observed that China might wish to reconsider its anti-Israel policy. Keng Pico, a Vice Premier working in the foreign affairs area, responded to Lehman’s remarks with a curt “You are a Jew I So you have a special concern about Israel.” He quickly changed the subject.
Lehman said that although Israel was the first nation in the Middle East to recognize the Peking government in 1950, contacts between the two countries were severed after Chinese Premier Chou En-lai met with Egyptian President Gamel Abdul Nasser at the 1955 Bandung Conference of non-aligned nations. Subsequently, Mao Tse-tung denounced Israel as a “base of imperialism,” and China become the first country outside the Arab world to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization and to offer it material and political support. In reporting the March II Arab terrorist attack on a civilian bus near Tel Aviv, headlines in the Chinese press read “Arab Freedom Fighters Destroy Two Israel Military Vehicles.”
Lehman concludes that, since he encountered no further anti-Semitism during his stay in China, the Chinese leadership should not be regarded as “racist.” Rather, he called the nation’s leaders “pragmatic” in their pursuit of a diplomatic policy designed to gain the support of Third World countries.
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